The Canadiens kept their busy day rolling by locking up Alex Newhook on a four-year extension worth $22.2MM, or $5.55MM per season.
Newhook, 25, has gone from a first-round pick in Colorado to a steady part of Montreal’s middle six. The Canadiens announced the deal, which keeps him in place after what has been a strong run in Montreal.
His NHL path started with the Avalanche, who took him 16th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft out of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. He later played at Boston College before turning pro.
Newhook became a full-time NHL player in 2021-22 and handled a sheltered role on a deep Colorado roster. He put up 13 goals and 33 points in 71 games that season, added a +11 rating, and averaged 13:34 of ice time per game. In the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup run, he chipped in four assists in 12 games.
The next season didn’t bring the jump many expected. With Nazem Kadri gone, Newhook was viewed as a possible fit on Colorado’s second line, but he finished with 14 goals and 30 points in 82 games, along with a net zero rating and 13:57 of average ice time. He added one assist in seven playoff games when the Seattle Kraken knocked the Avalanche out in the first round.
That ended up being his last season with Colorado. At the 2023 NHL Draft, the Avalanche sent Newhook to Montreal for a 2023 first-round pick, a 2023 second-round pick, and defenseman Gianni Fairbrother.
Since arriving with the Canadiens, Newhook has found his lane. In 179 games with Montreal, he has 43 goals and 85 points while averaging 15:32 of ice time per game. He also made a real impact in the playoffs, scoring seven goals and 10 points in 19 games with a +3 rating.
The new contract is not nearly as massive as some of the other extensions signed this summer, but it still matters for Montreal’s cap picture. Newhook is finishing the final year of a four-year, $11.6MM deal signed with the Canadiens in 2023.
At the time, his salary represented roughly 3.47% of Montreal’s available cap space. When this extension begins in 2026-27, his $5.5MM salary would account for about 5.29% if the salary cap upper limit reaches $104MM.
For Montreal, the bigger picture is clear: the long-term cap situation looks cleaner. The Canadiens remain one of the few teams without a player on a current contract or extension carrying more than $10MM, and Newhook now joins a long list of players signed through the end of the decade, including Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Zachary Bolduc, Ivan Demidov, Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, and Jakub Dobes.
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